Santos Flags $560 Mln Impairment Charge on Virus-led Oil Slump
Australia's Santos said on Tuesday it will book non-cash impairments of up to $560 million after tax, joining a number of global energy majors forced to write down assets after a coronavirus-induced slump in oil prices.The country's second-largest independent gas producer expects to record non-cash charges of between $490 million and $560 million after tax in its 2020 interim results…
Price Drop Triggers Haggling Over Oil and Gas Deals
The collapse in oil prices to 21-year lows has led potential buyers of oil and gas fields to try and renegotiate deals already agreed at higher prices, with the first examples emerging of sellers having their hand forced.At a time when most oil companies are slashing budgets, dividends, and headcounts to preserve cash, sellers are facing a difficult choice between sweetening…
U.S. Oil Firms' Quarterly Reports to Show Depths of Slump
Investors are in for more bad news on the energy front in the coming weeks as a host of the sector's biggest companies report quarterly results following the historic collapse in oil prices.Forecasts for U.S. energy sector earnings this year have dropped along with oil prices, weighing on shares along with worries over debt, layoffs and possible bankruptcies.Analysts see a 58.9% year-over-year decline in energy earnings for the first quarter…
AET Grows in Brazil
With the ongoing development of deepwater pre-salt plays and a decreased demand on local content in tankers and other vessels, Brazilian national operator Petrobras and other super-majors have been looking abroad for better rates and reliable operators of shuttle tankers. Claudio Paschoa, Maritime Reporter’s correspondent in Brazil spoke to Peter Liew, Global Director – Mid Size Tankers…
NNPC Says Shell, ExxonMobil Also Looking at Crude Swaps
Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC could sign crude-for-product deals with Shell and ExxonMobil, similar to one signed with BP last week, a senior NNPC official said on Monday.Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced last Wednesday that it had signed such a deal with BP and would provide more details later."Unfortunately, Shell and ExxonMobil exited the downstream…
US, Russian Energy Majors Join to Push LNG in India, Japan
Russia's energy major Rosneft and US ExxonMobil plan to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in a consortium with Indian and Japanese partners, spreading the estimated $15 billion cost, Reuters reported.The report said that the LNG production project will come up in partnership with Japan’s SODECO and India’s ONGC Videsh.All four companies are partners in the Sakhalin-1 fields from which the requisite gas for the facility will be drawn…
Saipem Sees Tough Year Ahead
Italian oil services company Saipem expects its revenues to fall this year as energy majors keep a tight grip on purse strings and pressure oil contractors' order books. Saipem, controlled by oil major Eni and state lender CDP, said it expected sales to be around 8 billion euros ($10 billion) this year, a billion euros less than in 2017. The recent uptick in oil prices has…
Big Oil Flush With Cash Again, But No Party Yet
The world's top oil companies are expected to generate more cash in 2018 than at any other time this decade after three painful years of cuts, but it isn't party time yet. The shift in sentiment has been rapid as crude prices have risen by more than 50 percent over the past six months to reach $70 a barrel, a level not seen since the crash year of 2014, thanks to global supply cuts led by OPEC.
Middle East Oil Producers Turn to Crude Trading to Boost Incomes
Middle East oil producers are venturing into trading crude as three years of weak oil prices has encouraged them to find new sources of income beyond the business of exporting their output. OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is among those making the shift. A subsidiary of state-owned Saudi Aramco plans to start trading non-Saudi crude, according to sources familiar with the issue.
Saipem Teams Up with Italy Railways in Russia Project Bid
Saipem has teamed up with Italy's state railways to bid for work on a Russian high-speed train project as the Italian oil engineering and contracting firm seeks new business to offset an ongoing slump in the energy industry. Oil service groups like Saipem have been hit by a sharp fall in oil prices since mid-2014 that has led energy majors to cut billions of dollars in costs and delay investments.
Kazakhstan's Kashagan Ships First Oil for Export
The first batches of oil from the giant Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan were shipped for export on Friday via two pipelines, the Central Asian nation's Energy Ministry said. Energy majors developing the field have shipped 7,700 tonnes of oil through the private CPC pipeline and 18,800 tonnes through a pipeline operated by state-controlled firm KazTransOil, it said in a statement.
Polish Firms Concede Defeat in Search for Shale Gas Riches
Poland's drive to exploit shale gas has come to an end with state-run gas firm PGNiG and oil refiner PKN Orlen drawing a line under projects to find it. The country's quest to explore for shale gas began five years ago, when the then prime minister Donald Tusk raised hopes with a forecast of it coming on stream in 2014. This attracted global energy majors, including Chevron Corp…
LNG Producers Face Unwanted Quandary
Global producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are facing a choice they probably didn't anticipate or want, but their response will likely shape the future of their industry. The dilemma facing producers is how do they respond to the moves by buyers to effectively scrap the pricing model that has underpinned the development of LNG for the past five decades. There appear to be increasing moves by major buyers…
BP, Eni Make Gas Discovery off Egyptian Coast
Energy majors BP and Eni on Thursday announced a significant natural gas discovery off the Egyptian coast. The discovery is in the Baltim southwest exploration prospect in the East Nile Delta. It is 10 km north of the Nooros gas field which was discovered in July last year and has a production rate of 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the companies said. Italy's Eni…
Kazakhstan Files $1.6 bln Claim Against BG-Eni Venture
Kazakhstan has filed a $1.6 billion claim against a group led by BG Group Plc and Eni SpA which is developing the Karachaganak gas condensate field, Russia's Lukoil, also a consortium member, said. The move is the latest sign of tensions between global energy majors and national companies in resource-rich nations as low oil prices put more strain on state budgets which have ballooned over the past decade.
Sheltered from Biggest Risks, Green Fuel to Ride Out Oil Crash
Green power is cheap enough to compete with fossil fuels and will buck the trend of falling investment in oil and gas as it can offer long-term returns sheltered from political risk, investors and industry analysts say. Oil prices have dropped by around 75 percent since mid-2014, leading the International Energy Agency (IEA) to predict a second successive year of falling hydrocarbon investment, marking the most sustained decline since the 1980s.
Russia May Allow More Firms to Offshore Oil
Russia may allow more oil companies to access its offshore projects, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday. "In general, the access can be extended," Novak told reporters in Moscow. An existing law stipulates that only state energy majors Rosneft and Gazprom can explore offshore fields. But Lukoil, Russia's No.2 oil producer, has long called for extending access to private firms as well.
Weak Oil May Depress Gulf; Investment Deals Could Support Egypt
Oil's fresh slide may pressure Gulf stock markets on Sunday, while Egypt may rise after Gulf Arab allies pledged a further $12 billion of investments and central bank deposits for Cairo at an international summit. Global oil prices tumbled on Friday and fell 9 percent on the week, hit by a renewed rally in the dollar and a warning by the International Energy Agency that the oil glut is growing. Brent crude settled near a one-month low below $55 a barrel.
Financial Pressure Forces PDVSA to Embraces Pragmatism
CARACAS/HOUSTON, March 13 (Reuters) - A subtle change in office attire may be the most telling symbol of a quiet revolution taking place inside Venezuela's troubled economic engine, giant oil firm PDVSA. For years, PDVSA employees were encouraged to wear red shirts in support of late President Hugo Chavez's socialist movement. Rafael Ramirez, the former oil czar famously vowed the state-owned firm would be "redder than red" and sent workers to state rallies.
Chevron to Stop Shale Gas Exploration in Poland
U.S. energy major Chevron Corp said it will stop exploring for shale gas in Poland, a sector that has failed to live up to its early promise of transforming eastern Europe's energy supplies. Chevron's Polish unit "has decided to discontinue shale gas operations in Poland as the opportunities here no longer compete favourably with other opportunities in Chevron's global portfolio", the company said in a statement.
